Mohammad Ashraful

          Mohammad Ashraful

Full name:            Mohammad Ashraful

Born:                    July 7, 1984, Dhaka

Current age:        30 years 281 days

Playing role:        Middle-order batsman

Batting style:       Right-hand bat

Bowling style:      Right-arm offbreak, Legbreak

Major teams:        Bangladesh, Asia XI, Bangladesh A,Central Zone (Bangladesh), Dhaka      Division, Dhaka Gladiators,Dhaka Gladiators, Dhaka Metropolis, Mumbai Indians

Batting and fielding averages

     Mat   Inns  NO   Runs    HS   Ave      BF       SR    100   50    4s      6s    Ct   St

Tests          61    119     5     2737     190   24.00   5940   46.07    6      8    335    22     25   0

ODIs         177   169    13    3468     109   22.23   4947   70.10    3     20   354    29     35   0

T20Is         23     23      0      450       65    19.56    356     126.40 0      2    48      11      4    0          

First-class 133   245    7      6918     263   29.06                           18    28                    67    0

List A        229   218    19    4671     118* 23.47                            5     25                    55    0

Twenty20   64    60      4      1300     103* 23.21    1106  117.54   1     4    140    27    21    0

Bowling averages

      Mat   Inns Balls     Runs  Wkts   BBI    BBM    Ave      Econ  SR   4w   5w 10

Tests          61      67     1733     1271     21      2/42     3/75    60.52    4.40  82.5    0    0     0

ODIs          177    40      697       661      18      3/26     3/26    36.72   5.69   38.7    0    0     0

T20Is          23      8       138       210       8        3/42     3/42   26.25   9.13   17.2    0    0     0

First-class  133             9396    5637     161     7/99                35.01   3.59   58.3          6    0

List A         229             1559    1366      47      4/28     4/28    29.06   5.25   33.1    1    0    0

Twenty20   64     23      335      444        23      3/13     3/13    19.30   7.95   14.5    0    0    0

Career statistics:

                          International information

National side:                 Bangladesh

Test debut (cap 17):      6 September 2001 v Sri Lanka

Last Test:                       25 April 2013 v Zimbabwe

ODI debut (cap 51):      11 April 2001 v Zimbabwe

Last ODI:                       8 May 2013 v Zimbabwe

ODI shirt no:                 7

Profile:

As a batsman, the trouble with Ashraful has been his inconsistency. As long as you enjoy the highlight reel of his career, everything seems rosy: whether it was in becoming the youngest Test centurion in 2001, the unbeaten 158 against India in 2004, the magnificent 100 he made against Australia in Cardiff in 2005 triggering a huge upset, or the innovative 87 against South Africa in the 2007 World Cup, Ashraful provided the entertainment quotient that turned heads towards Bangladesh. When he made a comeback in 2013 after being dropped due to poor form, he made 190 against Sri Lanka. But one look at the overall numbers, and it is easy to realise why some of his fans have given up on him. The fact that he has a score of 50 or more roughly 15% of the time he has batted in international cricket is one of those markers, like his batting average, that pulls him down as a batsman. Is it easy to say that he has underachieved, but those who have dealt with him over the years think otherwise, as they have been surprised by his own lack of confidence in his immense talent. orm deserted the talented Ashraful once again and he was dropped for a while in 2006. He came back strongly though and scored a ton against the Sri Lankans. He was soon appointed as the captain across all formats for Bangladesh in 2007. It was a huge responsibility for someone who was just 22. Ashraful, started well though, scoring a hundred against Sri Lanka in his first match as captain. It was all downhill after that. Bangladesh failed to make any progress under his leadership and his personal form dipped considerably. He was finally relieved off the captaincy duties in 2009 so that he could concentrate on his batting. It has not resulted in much of a change though as Ashraful continues to flatter to deceive. A batting average of 22 and 23 in Tests and ODIs is not what is expected from someone who was widely regarded as Bangladesh's most talented batsman. With age on his side a lot of fans fervently wish that he changes his fortunes around and does so quickly.

Ashraful was involved in spot fixing controversy in 2013, which he admitted to have done in the Bangladesh Premier League. He was allegedly paid around $12,800 to lose a match against Chittagong Kings in the second edition of BPL. However, the cheque which was given later bounced. He was also involved in another match 10 days later against Barisal Burners. The BCB reacted immediately and suspended him from all forms of the game, until ICC's Anti-Corruption submits its report on the investigation.